1. Field of the Invention
The present invention comprises apparatus and method for automatically justifying sheets which are punched with holes spaced inward from one margin of the sheet by squaring the said one margin and two end margins so that the holes of the sheets are aligned, assembling such sheets with male and female plastic binding strips and then binding the sheets into books by compressing the strips so that the studs of one strip pass through the holes in the paper and the holes of the other binding strip, and then cutting off the excess stud length and forming rivet heads on the ends of the studs.
As hereinafter described in detail, the machine has a frame supported above the floor on which are mounted several stations or subassemblies. At the staging station the sheets to be bound are deposited on a tray from which they are fed into the assembly station. Male binding strips packaged in cassettes are deposited in a male strip hopper and fed one at a time from the cassette and then fed laterally into the justify/assembly station. Simultaneously, in a female strip hopper the strips are fed one at a time from a cassette and then cross-fed laterally into the justify/assembly station. In the justify/assembly station, the sheets are jogged so as to square the edges of the sheets in common planes and thereby align the holes in the sheets. After such justification is completed, the male strips are pushed inward through the aligned holes in the sheets and through the holes in the female strip and then the assembled document is fed into the binding station. The binding station may be of several types using, for example, substantial portions of the machine shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,811,146, whereby the strips are compressed together, thereby compressing the sheets therebetween, the excess stud lengths are cut off and heads are formed on the severed ends of the studs, binding the book together.
2. Description of Related Art
Books of the general type of the end product of the present invention are shown, among other places, in U.S. Reissue Pat. No. 28202. Such books employ male and female binding strips such as are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,013. As has been stated, the binding station of the apparatus of the present invention employs a substantial portion of the machine shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,811,146. Initially, the strips are packaged in cassettes such as are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 115,999, filed Nov. 2, 1987, entitled CASSETTE FOR BOOKBINDING STRIPS, the inventors being Barney A. Tipps and Frank A. Todaro, now Pat. No. 4,844,674.